Tent Life in Siberia eBook

The papers were of various dates from September, 1866,
to March, 1867, and were so mixed up that it was impossible
to follow the course of events chronologically or
consecutively. We were not long, however, in ascertaining
not only that the new Atlantic cable had been successfully
laid, but that the broken and abandoned cable of 1865
had been picked up in mid-ocean, repaired, and put
in perfect working order. I think this discouraged
us more than anything else. If cables could be
found in the middle of the Atlantic, picked up in
ten or twelve thousand feet of water, and repaired
on the deck of a steamer, the ultimate success of submarine
telegraphy was assured, and we might as well pack up
our trunks and go home. But there was worse news
to come. A few minutes later, Lewis, who was
reading an old copy of the San Francisco Bulletin,
struck his knee violently with his clenched fist and
exclaimed;

“Boys! The jig is up! Listen to this!

“’Special Dispatch to the
Bulletin

“’New York, October 15.

“’In consequence of the success
of the Atlantic cable, all work on the Russian-American
telegraph line has been stopped and the enterprise
has been abandoned.’”

“Well!” said Robinson, after a moment
of thoughtful silence, “that seems to settle
it. The cable has knocked us out.”

Late in the afternoon, we pulled back, with heavy
hearts, to the beacon-tower at the mouth of the river,
and on the following day returned to Gizhiga, to await
the arrival of a vessel from San Francisco with an
official notification of the abandonment of the enterprise.

[Illustration: Women’s Knives used in making
clothing]

CHAPTER XXXVII

OFFICIAL CONFIRMATION OF THE BAD NEWS—­THE ENTERPRISE ABANDONED—­A
VOYAGE TO OKHOTSK—­THE AURORA OF THE SEA

On the 15th of July, the Company’s bark Onward
(which should have been named Backward) arrived
at Gizhiga with orders to sell all of our stores that
were salable; use the proceeds in the payment of our
debts; discharge our native labourers; gather up our
men, and return to the United States. The Atlantic
cable had proved to be a complete success, and our
Company, after sinking about $3,000,000 in the attempt
to build an overland line from America to Europe, had
finally decided to put up with its loss and abandon
the undertaking. Letters from the directors to
Major Abaza, stated that they would be willing to
go on with the work, in spite of the success of the
Atlantic cable, if the Russian Government would agree
to complete the line on the Siberian side of Bering
Strait; but they did not think they should be required,
under the circumstances, to do all the work on the
American side and half of that on the Russian.

Major Abaza, hoping that he could prevail upon the
Russian Minister of Ways and Communications to take
the Asiatic Division off the hands of the American
Company, and thus prevent the complete abandonment
of the enterprise, decided at once to go to St. Petersburg
overland. He therefore sailed in the Onward
with me for Okhotsk, intending to disembark there,
start for Yakutsk on horseback, and send me back in
the ship to pick up our working parties along the coast.